Nestle Waters Commended for Eco-Shape Water Bottle

GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Nestle Waters North America today announced it is the recipient of a 2010 Gold Connecticut Quality Improvement Award's (CQIA) Innovation Prize for its next-generation Eco-Shape(TM) half-liter bottle, which uses 25% less PET plastic than its predecessor Eco-Shape(TM) bottle and is among the most environmentally responsible packaged drink choices on the market.

The CQIA is America's first and oldest state-level quality award using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence criteria in a campaign to advance innovative programs that improve quality, performance and marketplace competitiveness. Mac Baldrige was CEO of Scovill Brass in Waterbury, Connecticut, before becoming Secretary of Commerce under President Reagan in 1987. The CQIA Innovation Prize recognizes manufacturing and service companies, health care, education, government and other not-for-profit organizations that accept the challenge of developing unique products, services and processes capable of tackling real-world problems.

"Winning this CQIA prize is testament to Nestle Waters' leadership in innovation," said Kevin Mathews, Director of Health and Environmental Affairs at Nestle Waters. "As a company that depends on natural resources, sustainability is an integral part of our values and business, and we understand that reducing the amount of plastic in our bottles – or 'lightweighting' – is the best thing a beverage company can do to reduce its environmental impact. Our next-generation Eco-Shape(TM) bottle is the latest step in our company's long history of addressing our products' life cycle through innovation."

In February 2010, Nestle Waters commissioned a first-of-its-kind peer-reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) to better understand the environmental impact of bottled water and alternative beverages. The LCA found that Eco-Shape(TM) is one of the most environmentally responsible packaged drink choices primarily because it contains the least amount of plastic among the packaged beverage options reviewed in the study. Weighing an average of 9.3 grams, the next-generation Eco-Shape(TM) bottle uses 60 percent less plastic than the company's pre-Eco-Shape(TM) PET bottle, first introduced in the mid-1990s.

Eco-Shape(TM) is credited with reducing Nestle Waters' carbon emission equivalents by more than 356,000 tons since 2007 – the equivalent to removing 78,000 cars from the road. Eco-Shape(TM) also features a label that is 35 percent smaller on average than the previous label, saving nearly 10 million pounds of paper annually.

The 24th Annual Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Conference on Quality and Innovation will take place on Friday, October 29, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Water's Edge Resort and Conference Center in Westbrook, Connecticut.

About Nestle Waters North America

Central to the leadership of Nestle Waters North America Inc. is its 34-year history and single-focus on producing bottled water products. The company's dedication to product quality, manufacturing expertise, efficient production, employee development and environmental stewardship, especially in the areas of water use, energy and packaging, has helped Nestle Waters become the number one bottled water company in the U.S. To reach success, the company follows its credo: Respect for each other, respect for the environment, and respect for the community. To learn more, visit www.nestlewatersnorthamerica.com.